After Klein became a Darkin, he had awakened several times.
But unfortunately, the results of his awakenings were either that the holder was too weak to sustain his conscious consumption, or the holder was ill-intentioned and wanted to use him, a poor, lonely old man.
For the former, Klein simply accumulated energy little by little, pretending to be a stick that could inhibit magic; and for the latter, Klein was never polite, decisively taking over the body and then, while the body had not yet become Darkin, he would travel around.
These intermittent awakenings made Klein a "ghost detached from history"; even though he tried his best to find books every time, the Void's erosion was too severe. Once he took over an owner's body, he could at most be conscious for ten days to half a month, so he knew very little about history.
Therefore, he hoped to talk with Lux and understand Runeterra in this era.
On the other side, Lux was actually a bit curious about Klein.
Curiosity is a human instinct, not to mention a naturally lively young girl like Lux.
To Lux, Klein was a complete mystery. She didn't know Klein's past, nor did she understand what Klein's self-introduction meant. Since Klein was willing to chat with her, it seemed like a good choice to take the opportunity to listen more to Klein's stories.
So, after sitting down, Lux spoke first, expressing her desire to hear Klein's story: "Just tell me your story! Are there any stories about defeating evil Spellcasters or rescuing princesses?"
As an elder who had lived countless years in Shurima, Klein had many stories.
Since Lux wanted to hear them, Klein was happy to tell them, except for some true secrets.
So, where should the story begin?
"When I was your age, Demacia didn't even exist yet," Klein thought for a moment and decided to tell a story that wasn't recorded in history. "So, back then, there were no evil witches, and certainly no princesses."
"No Demacia? You're lying!" When Klein started his story, Lux couldn't hold back and began to respond actively, "I heard my mother talk about the Winged Sisters legend! The birth of Demacia dates back almost a thousand years!"
"Has Demacia been around for a thousand years? Then I really have been asleep for a long time," Klein said calmly, as if a thousand years were nothing to him. "The poor people who fled the Rune Wars back then have now created a powerful nation with their own hands. That's good."
"What poor people? Those were the great thirteen families..."
"Hold on, we're not talking about Demacia today," Klein stopped Lux's description of Demacia's thirteen noble families. He had read that part during his last awakening, and it was full of mutual flattery and no substance. "Let's just talk about each other, your story, my story."
"...Alright," Lux puffed out her cheeks, then sat quietly. "Go on, old man!"
Lux's emphasis on "old man" did not offend Klein; instead, it felt somewhat familiar—in Shurima, many people called him that, and later on, quite a few even called him 'ancestor'.
Although from Lux's perspective, this address was undoubtedly "making someone old" and a small retaliation for Klein's nonsense, in Klein's view, there was actually no problem with it.
"Shurima back then wasn't an empire; it was just a barren land," Klein continued his description. "There were no sacred springs, no Oases, only Desert everywhere. The barren land couldn't be cultivated, and everyone found it hard to get enough to eat."
"Hungry?"
"Yes, hungry," Klein's tone remained calm, as if it wasn't a terrible past, but a commonplace memory. "Lux, have you ever been to a beach?"
"A beach? Yes, I have!" Lux nodded. "It's in Dorn Hold, not far from The Capital. It has the most famous golden beach in the country... Hmm, Uncle originally said he'd take me and my brother there when he came back..."
"Alright, but don't be sad, you'll have a chance to go again eventually," Klein comforted her softly, then continued his story. "Unlike the sand on a beach, the sand in the Desert is dry, with no water at all. Even after a heavy rain, it only takes half a day for the ground to become dry again."
"That's truly unimaginable," Such a novel thing made Lux widen her eyes in surprise. "It rains, and it dries up in just half a day..."
"In our time, the Desert was called 'Sai', a word that originally meant boundless, endless," Klein hesitated slightly, giving as common an analogy as possible. "The Desert and the ocean are actually very similar, except one is dry golden, and the other is turbulent blue."
"Sai?" Lux imitated Klein, trying to pronounce the trilled 'r' sound. "What a strange way to pronounce it... I've never heard of this language."
"That's ancient shurima language, a primitive language, simple and poetic," Klein didn't elaborate on this, but continued his story. "It's impossible to grow food in the dry Desert. The only way to survive is to find an Oasis."
"What is an Oasis?"
"An Oasis is a rare, fertile land with water sources in the Desert, where plants grow," Klein explained. "Unfortunately, I can't share these memories with you yet, but I see there's a Shurima travelogue on the bookshelf, which should contain records about these things."
Hearing Klein say this, Lux surprisingly got up, and then, in the place Klein mentioned, found the book. After briefly flipping through some pages, she unbelievably discovered that the book really had Deserts and Oases.
More importantly, this travelogue also had illustrations!
"Is this the Desert and Oasis you mentioned?" Lux asked, pointing to the illustration in the book. "It looks like a... big garden with a pond, without walls!"
"Hahaha, an interesting metaphor," If Klein had hands, he would definitely clap for Lux right now. "But you're right, an Oasis is indeed like a big garden with a pond and no walls, so to compete for this big garden, every family had to fight every day."
"Fight? Why fight?" Lux was clearly a bit slow to react. "To compete for this garden? But... fighting is bad. Fighting causes injuries, and even death!"
Clearly, Lux was not lacking in common sense, nor was she lacking in sympathy and empathy. However, in her privileged environment, she always subconsciously beautified the parts that were not in the story.
"Because if you don't fight, if you don't occupy an Oasis, you'll starve to death, or die of thirst," Klein gave a cruel reason. "When I was your age, I lost my tribe, I lost my family. To survive, I joined a family where everyone, like me, was alone. We fought together to occupy an Oasis that would allow us to live."
"I think I understand a little."
Lux thought for a moment, then looked up at the window—today she had chosen a window seat, and through the open window, she could see the garden outside, with its pond, rockeries, and shrubs.
Although Lux still couldn't imagine people fighting for a garden rather than for honor or justice, the reason "to survive" still made her feel an indescribable heaviness.
"And then?" Lux blinked, shaking off the heaviness. "Then you fought with others? With fists? With spears? Or with shields and longswords?"
"With everything, from stones to sticks," Klein paused, then continued, "To deal with those guys who used longswords, halberds, or magic."
"Magic—you fought evil Spellcasters with stones and sticks!" Lux's mouth dropped open in surprise. "That's absolutely amazing!"
"Watch your words, Lux," Klein said helplessly. "You are a Spellcaster now too."
"I—" Lux stammered, a bit embarrassed. "It's different. I won't use magic to fight!"
"But what if, in the Shadow Realm, there's a monster trying to Consume your uncle's soul?" Klein retorted. "Ordinary swords won't be effective there."
...That's different," Lux still instinctively rejected the situation Klein described. "There might not be any monsters in the Shadow Realm; you must be trying to scare me!"
"Consider it me trying to scare you," Klein didn't continue on this topic, but continued telling his story. "There were no princesses in my family, but there was an elder sister. Her name was Setaka, of course, we all called her Great Leader."
"Great Leader, how cool!" Lux's excitement was piqued again. "A lady respected by everyone!"
"Exactly, by enemies and family alike," Klein chose to go along with Lux's words this time. "She didn't need excellent weapons; she could approach enemies with agile footwork and easily win in battle, even if the enemy was a cunning Spellcaster, she could find a way."
"But... Uncle told me that without excellent weapons, there's almost no way to deal with a prepared Spellcaster," Lux was a bit confused. "How could that Great Leader you mentioned fight a Spellcaster with sticks and stones?"
"With wisdom and strength," Klein's voice rarely carried a hint of recollection. "Of course, also with fearless Courage, and a little favor from the god of luck—for example, once when we were fighting for a small Oasis, she cleverly used the power of the mountains..."
Next, Klein told Lux the story of Setaka's rise to fame in that battle.
That battle took place in what is now Nerimazeth. To deal with the Spellcaster in the Oasis, Setaka first disguised herself as a passing merchant, leading her team into the Oasis, and drawing the map on the shaved skin under her camel's felt mat.
Then, she led her family, in the deep Desert night, enduring the bone-chilling cold, to set up rolling stone traps.
Including Klein, the entire family worked together, using simple pulley systems, to place large stones on the hillside west of the Nerimazeth Oasis.
Then, the next day, they used a feigned retreat to Allure the Spellcaster there and activated the trap.
Facing the rolling stones, the Spellcaster calmly summoned a sand barrier, blocking the stones.
However, just when he thought victory was assured, several warriors who had been lurking for a long time emerged from the sand barrier he had summoned. Although their bodies were bruised and battered from being crushed by the sand, they launched a fatal strike while the Spellcaster was complacent.
This Spellcaster, who could naturally manipulate sand, clearly hadn't expected anyone to be able to withstand the terrible pressure of sand shaping, and as a result, he was caught off guard and directly defeated.
Lux had clearly never heard such a convoluted story. It was completely different from the popular Demacia stories where "righteous knights righteously rebuke evil, then slay evil with a sharp sword."
Compared to Demacia's knight novels, Klein's story was more tense, more thrilling, and more exciting for Lux—clearly, this young girl from the Crownguard Family, although she always wanted to be a good girl, deep down, she also harbored her own desire for adventure and War.
Not only that, to give Lux a more direct impression, Klein also directed her to find many illustrations from the travelogues on the bookshelf that were somewhat similar to the situation at the time.
This "text and image combined" format made Lux exclaim in delight, completely forgetting about Klein's identity, and even actively recommending excellent works she had read.
It wasn't until the sun set and Lady Ogessa returned to the mansion with Garen that a servant knocked on the door to remind them it was time for dinner, and Lux reluctantly ended her conversation with Klein.
From Klein, she not only heard the story of the "double trap cleverly defeating the Spellcaster" but also a series of Setaka's past events, such as "escaping quicksand to lure enemies away," "borrowing the dragon's wrath," and "towards the direction of the stars."
These stories were even little known in the history of Shurima—to maintain the empire's greatness, Setaka had to be a flawless deity in all records, born with a great mission.
Only Klein, who had fought alongside her, knew that she, like countless Ascended, was once just a human.
Where are these so-called 'heaven-sent heroes'?
They are merely a group of humans who persevered and ultimately reached the end.
Of course, Klein didn't tell Lux these things. Lux was still too young; she didn't know much about the true side of this world. Even though Klein was a devilish mentor when teaching, he was still happy to give this little girl a less cruel childhood.
Therefore, he didn't tell Lux that only one-fifth of the people who had infiltrated the sand beforehand survived and participated in the final assault. The other eighty percent either died of hypothermia during the night or were crushed to death when the sand barrier formed.
Nor did he mention that many people died when they feigned defeat, and some even voluntarily sacrificed themselves, partly to make the act more realistic and partly to cover up any potential smell of blood in the sand.
The cruel elegy of survival was adapted by Klein into a children's abridged version of a heroic epic.
However... listening to Setaka's story as a heroic epic is actually quite good!
Thinking of this, Klein finally couldn't help but click his tongue: it's such a pity that his role was not prominent enough in this stage.